1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), and more particularly, to a DMB receiver and a user interface method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In DMB, signals such as an image information signal, an audio information signal, and a character information signal, are compressed in an MPEG-2 format, and service information signals corresponding to a plurality of physical channels and a plurality of logical channels of each physical channel, are multiplexed and transmitted. The multiplexed signals are transmitted to a DMB receiver via various broadcasting methods such as satellite broadcasting and terrestrial broadcasting. An ensemble of a predetermined frequency is comprised of a plurality of services, which are broadcast programs, and each of the services is comprised of a plurality of service components. For example, physical channels such as KBS, MBC, EBS, and SBS, correspond to ensembles, and logical channels such as TV 1, TV 2, radio 1, radio 2, and traffic alert broadcasting service, correspond to services.
As described above, a DMB signal contains an ensemble and a plurality of services that are multiplexed according to a code division method. That is, a DMB signal that contains an ensemble and a plurality of services linked to the ensemble is transmitted to a DMB receiver. Since the DMB receiver receives a plurality of broadcasts linked to an ensemble in a time zone, a user interface through which an ensemble and a service are selected is required to select a desired broadcast from the plurality of broadcasts.
Meanwhile, with a conventional broadcast signal, only one broadcast program is transmitted per one physical channel. Accordingly, a desired broadcast program can be viewed by selecting the appropriate channel at the appropriate time. A user interface disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,844 that teaches a conventional method of selecting a television (TV) broadcast program will now be described.
FIG. 1 is a view of a conventional user interface screen 11 in which a desired TV program is selected. In the user interface screen 11, channels are displayed vertically in a column and available broadcast programs 13 are displayed horizontally in rows corresponding to the channels. Here, the broadcast programs 13 are ordered in the horizontal direction according to the times at which they are broadcast.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional method of selecting a TV program. Referring to FIG. 2, at S22 a user selects a “Television” menu from among menus displayed at the bottom of the user interface screen 11 of FIG. 1 and one of the broadcast programs 13 displayed according to time on the top of the user interface screen 11. If the broadcast program 13 selected by the user is being broadcasted (S23), the broadcast program 13 is displayed in a full screen mode (S24). If not, a predetermined bitmap screen such as a broadcasting company logo or a color adjustment table is displayed (S27).
As described above, conventionally, since only one broadcast is received through a physical channel in a given time zone, it is possible to display broadcast programs on the aforementioned conventional user interface screen 11 in a time sequence.
However, a DMB signal contains a physical channel (ensemble) and a plurality of broadcast services linked to the physical channel, thus allowing the broadcast services to all be received at the same time in the same time zone. Accordingly, it is impossible to display physical channels and a plurality of broadcast services linked to each of the channels that are contained in the DMB broadcast signal on a conventional user interface screen.